This guy has the right idea!

[Seagull81]

Hi All,

I’m against the $85,000,000,000.00 bailout of AIG. I'm also against the $700,000,000,000++ bailout being proposed in Congress right now!

Instead, I’m in favor of giving $85,000,000,000 to America in a We Deserve It Dividend.

To make the math simple, let’s assume there are 200,000,000 bonafide U.S. Citizens 18+.

Our population is about 301,000,000 +/- counting every man, woman and child. So 200,000,000 might be a fair stab at adults 18 and up..

So divide 200 million adults 18+ into $85 billon -- that equals $425,000.00.

My plan is to give $425,000 to every person 18+ as a We Deserve It Dividend.

Of course, it would NOT be tax free. So let’s assume a tax rate of 30%. Every individual 18+ has to pay $127,500.00 in taxes. That sends $25,500,000,000 right back to Uncle Sam.

But it means that every adult 18+ has $297,500.00 in their pocket. A husband and wife has $595,000.00.

What would you do with $297,500.00 to $595,000.00 in your family?
Pay off your mortgage – housing crisis solved.
Pay off credit card debt.
Repay college loans – what a great boost to new grads
Put away money for college – It’ll be there for Junior.
Save in a bank – create money to loan to entrepreneurs.
Buy a new car – create jobs
Invest in the market – capital drives growth
Pay for your parent’s medical insurance – health care improves
Enable Deadbeat Dads to come clean – or else

Remember this is for every adult U S Citizen 18+ including the folks who lost their jobs at Lehman Brothers and every other company that is cutting back. And of course, for those serving in our Armed Forces.

If we’re going to re-distribute wealth let’s really do it...instead of trickling out a puny $1000.00 ( “vote buy” ) economic incentive that is being proposed by one of our candidates for President.

If we’re going to do an $85 billion bailout, let’s bail out every adult U S Citizen 18+!

As for AIG – liquidate it.
Sell off its parts.
Let American General go back to being American General.
Sell off the real estate.
Let the private sector bargain hunters cut it up and clean it up.

Here’s my rationale. We deserve it and AIG doesn’t.

Sure it’s a crazy idea that can “never work.”

But can you imagine the Coast-To-Coast Block Party!

How do you spell Economic Boom?

I trust my fellow adult Americans to know how to use the $85 Billion We Deserve It Dividend more than I do the geniuses at AIG or in Washington DC.

And remember, The Birk plan only really costs $59.5 Billion because $25.5 Billion is returned
instantly in taxes to Uncle Sam.

Ahhh...I feel so much better getting that off my chest.

Kindest personal regards,
Birk

T. J. Birkenmeier, A Creative Guy & Citizen of the Republic

[csx wnab]

i like it..........where do i sign up for my check?

[mdmull]

Another victim of the american education system/ 85 billion divided among 200 million is only $425.00 Have fun paying off the mortgage.

[ENTDOC]

does he work for AIG?

[wtm442]

That half million would have really screwed up my 1040 form. But I still can have a block party with $425.00

[Doug I]

somehow someone at AIG (having learnt from Enron) could probably make that 425 look like 300k and then borrow against that perceived asset

[392cobra]

Originally Posted by mdmull

Another victim of the american education system/ 85 billion divided among 200 million is only $425.00 Have fun paying off the mortgage.

An Aggie ??

[trularin]

I like the way this guy is thinking.

All that money will go to saving some fat cat's ass 'cause he allowed this poop to happen.

[trularin]

Oh, and BTW, there are NOT 85 billion people on the planet.

[392cobra]

Originally Posted by trularin

Oh, and BTW, there are NOT 85 billion people on the planet.

Tru,
I didn't know you went to A & M.

That's $85b and 200m people over 18 in the U.S...

[David-JBL]

I enjoyed reading the post. The numbers and logic may be a bit off but his thought process and how he explains things to us sounded as if he is a Washington politician. Is he from Crawford Texas?

[cobra bill]

This is a great post, and yes the numbers are off, but a great idea! what will they learn if we bail them out!

[vanoochka]

Originally Posted by cobra bill

This is a great post, and yes the numbers are off, but a great idea! what will they learn if we bail them out!

Nobody (including me) likes the idea of almost a trillion our tax dollars being used to rescue investment banks and insurance companies that are packed full of over-priced executives. Especially when that money could cure a lot of the problems in our social security system, health care, and on and on.

That being said, while the original post is a nice vent, anyone with a even a basic understanding of macroeconomics can tell you why it's the exact opposite of a "great idea".

[Snakebit]

How did they come up with the 700 billion number? They said on the news that if you divided the 700 billion by the 200 million adult American Citizens, each one of us would get a check for 3.5 million! How many people do you know that are defaulting on a 3.5 million dollar mortgage? How did they come to the conclusion that every American Citizen was 3.5 million in debt? Where does the line start to get the check?

Wasn't it Senator Dodd who 3 years ago killed a bill to regulate the mortgage industry and also received $133,000 in campagne contributions from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac? Now he is leading the cause to bail them out! Where is the tar and feathers and the rail to run him out of Washington?

[Dangerous Doug]

Well, both presidential candidates have one thing right:

"It's Time for Change!"

As a person who purchased a home within my means, and who avoided sub-prime ARM loans like the plague, it really does piss me off that we're bailing out people that bought in over their heads with sub-prime ARM loans who "now" can't afford their purchases. Not to mention that we're now throwing $700b to Wall Street...

Well, at least my credit record will be intact, so when this things start to turn and I want to borrow to invest in rental property...

[cobra bill]

Originally Posted by Snakebit

Wasn't it Senator Dodd who 3 years ago killed a bill to regulate the mortgage industry and also received $133,000 in campagne contributions from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac? Now he is leading the cause to bail them out! Where is the tar and feathers and the rail to run him out of Washington?

Predatory lending was widely understood to present a looming national crisis. This threat was so clear that as New York attorney general, I joined with colleagues in the other 49 states in attempting to fill the void left by the federal government. Individually, and together, state attorneys general of both parties brought litigation or entered into settlements with many subprime lenders that were engaged in predatory lending practices. Several state legislatures, including New York's, enacted laws aimed at curbing such practices.

What did the Bush administration do in response? Did it reverse course and decide to take action to halt this burgeoning scourge? As Americans are now painfully aware, with hundreds of thousands of homeowners facing foreclosure and our markets reeling, the answer is a resounding no.
Not only did the Bush administration do nothing to protect consumers, it embarked on an aggressive and unprecedented campaign to prevent states from protecting their residents from the very problems to which the federal government was turning a blind eye.
Let me explain: The administration accomplished this feat through an obscure federal agency called the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC). The OCC has been in existence since the Civil War. Its mission is to ensure the fiscal soundness of national banks. For 140 years, the OCC examined the books of national banks to make sure they were balanced, an important but uncontroversial function. But a few years ago, for the first time in its history, the OCC was used as a tool against consumers.
In 2003, during the height of the predatory lending crisis, the OCC invoked a clause from the 1863 National Bank Act to issue formal opinions preempting all state predatory lending laws, thereby rendering them inoperative. The OCC also promulgated new rules that prevented states from enforcing any of their own consumer protection laws against national banks. The federal government's actions were so egregious and so unprecedented that all 50 state attorneys general, and all 50 state banking superintendents, actively fought the new rules.
But the unanimous opposition of the 50 states did not deter, or even slow, the Bush administration in its goal of protecting the banks. In fact, when my office opened an investigation of possible discrimination in mortgage lending by a number of banks, the OCC filed a federal lawsuit to stop the investigation.
Throughout our battles with the OCC and the banks, the mantra of the banks and their defenders was that efforts to curb predatory lending would deny access to credit to the very consumers the states were trying to protect. But the curbs we sought on predatory and unfair lending would have in no way jeopardized access to the legitimate credit market for appropriately priced loans. Instead, they would have stopped the scourge of predatory lending practices that have resulted in countless thousands of consumers losing their homes and put our economy in a precarious position.
When history tells the story of the subprime lending crisis and recounts its devastating effects on the lives of so many innocent homeowners, the Bush administration will not be judged favorably. The tale is still unfolding, but when the dust settles, it will be judged as a willing accomplice to the lenders who went to any lengths in their quest for profits. So willing, in fact, that it used the power of the federal government in an unprecedented assault on state legislatures, as well as on state attorneys general and anyone else on the side of consumers.

[vanoochka]

The above unattributed quote was written by Eliot Spitzer on Thursday, February 14, 2008.

[392cobra]

The above post is a cut and paste from The Huffington Post.

So,consider the source.

How the Democrats Created the Financial Crisis

[cobra bill]

Yes it was, Have you ever wondered why the administration used the FBI to go after Spitzer for using hookers? And you guys want us all to rely on Fox news and other right wing sources as gospel, doubt goes both ways. The same tactics were used to out Valery Plame, if this is the kind of government that gives you pride, then feel free to vote for McCain, it will just be 4 more years of the same!

[Seagull81]

When they bail out those firms, it ought to be an automatic- no trial- sentence of 20 years and forfeiture of 80% of their wealth to help pay for this mess for the President, vice President and Treasurer of each one of those companies. They knew what they were doing. Well, greed shouldn't pay! And if they don’t do something to the people that caused this they will be back in another 15 years to do the same thing in a different way.
Steve